Measurement of the mean excitation energy of liquid argon
arXiv:2501.10550
Abstract
The mean excitation energy (I-value) of liquid argon is a critical input for energy estimation in neutrino oscillation experiments. It is measured to be eV using the range of 404MeV protons from the Fermilab Linac. This compares to the author's recent evaluation of eV based on a combination of an oscillator strength distribution analysis, gaseous argon range measurements, sparse stopping power data on solid argon, and an extrapolation of data on the effect of phase from other substances. Using all sources of information, we recommend a value of eV for liquid argon.
Revised result in light of new information on beam energy